Up Front

with the Editor

We've suddenly got a new power bloc

The South Pacific Forum was aunched in Wellington last August vith a membership of five fully nvolved nations, plus Australia and Jew Zealand on the sidelines wearing olerant, Friendly Uncle expressions, n Canberra in February the second leeting broke up with a membership f seven fully-involved nations.

Australia and New Zealand went way looking slightly bemused, a ttle apprehensive, wondering how ic hell they had got themselves into lis, and the five Island nations went ff with the kind of smile that fable as it was seen on the face of the ger.

Australia and New Zealand have sen manipulated by crafty experts— nd anybody who has had any ex srience of Island politics knows just ow sophisticated they are. The Poly esian talking chiefs learned their ■aft at university colleges with istories going back countless genera ons, where the student who failed > pass his examinations literally •st his head. Australia and New ealand, with their superiority com lexes born of wealth and family mnections were bound to lose once ie Islands turned their attention to em in earnest.

What we saw in Canberra last onth, without public acknowledge ent, or indeed without general vareness, was the creation of a ;w power bloc covering a huge ea of the earth’s surface—a bloc bich will grow in membership and power as the South Pacific looms rger in the affairs of a diminishing Drld. As Island territories, including ipua New Guinea with its expand g econmy and population, become If-governing, they will join the oc, where all members are equal, o important decisions that are made this area of the world, and which ill affect the welfare of this area the world, can now be made thout the involvement of the South icific Forum. The forum countries, spite their varying sized populations,

have a common purpose, and their mutual responsibilty is the prosperity of all the peoples of the South Pacific. Their destinies are per manently linked.

What happened in Canberra in Feb ruary is exciting news to the South Pacific, because it means the full emergence of the South Pacific Forum has banished the isolation of the Islands—the isolation of one island group from another, the isolation of all the island groups from Australia and New Zealand, the isolation of the Pacific from the rest of the world.

It will also bring Australia and New Zealand closer to each other, for the

forum has already underlined the fact that despite the lip service and the real goodwill between the two anchor dominions of the South Seas, there are many significant matters in which they need closer understanding.

New Zealand will be less ap prehensive than Australia over the sudden new turn of events. New Zealand has been closer, for longer, to the problems of the Islands than has Australia with her past fascina tion, almost exclusively, with Europe and more recently with South-East Asia. New Zealand probably saw the writing on the wall when Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Nauru and the Cooks first asked last year for “a little advice” about planning a loosely organised meeting of Island heads with Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand invited this harmless “forum” without a firm agenda or procedures, this “Island fashion dis cussion”, to meet in Wellington. This it did, and everybody liked it so much, and there was so much good will, that Australia offered Canberra as the next venue.

But the forum had begun to take on a body and soul. Australia must have got its first indication that something more than a series of in formal talks around the kava bowl was developing when it attended a meeting on South Pacific trade in Wellington in November. This meet ing had met as result of a proposal approved by the first forum.

One of the subjects discussed at this trade meeting was the matter of New Zealand union interference with the affairs of Island shipping, especially Cook Islands shipping.

Island delegates at the meeting decided to take advantage of the

government de-registration of the New Zealand Seamen’s Union, which had just occurred, to put pressure or the NZ Government to give Island shipping greater immunity. This the} did while the trade meeting was stil in progress.

This bit of political in-play tn the Islanders impressed Australis mightily. It saw that the Islander were quite capable of smooth!] turning a situation to their owi advantage. It secretly hoped tha events in Australia in Februar wouldn’t give the Islanders attending the Canberra forum the same op portunity to play politics.

Australia’s apprehension was well founded. As you can see from PIM’ report on the Canberra forur (p. 21), Fiji played clever politic in Canberra on the matter of Island migration to Australia.

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara wa aware that immigration is a sensitiv subject in Canberra. He was possibl also aware the Immigration Depar ment and the Department of Foreig Affairs are not in agreement on ho 1 the policy should be administere for Pacific Islanders.

Ratu Mara probably also kne' that in this Australian election yea the ALP leader, Mr. Gough Whitlan is promising to issue visas into Au tralia without racial distinction, an that under a Whitlam governmen leading Suva businessmen Mr. Be Jannif would not continue to have tl humiliation of having to state h financial position every time he wan to visit Australia.

Ratu Mara’s political tactics wi] I think, result in Australia doir something about making its in migration procedures less personal objectionable, less racial. It may brir closer the time when Australia wi introduce visas f< people like Mr. Jannif, who ha 1 * long since satisfied even Australia c their bona fides.

But Ratu Mara’s political tactic best of all, should prove to Austral that the Friendly Uncle image is ju not acceptable to the Pacil Islanders; that the Islanders must 1 treated as intelligent equals, j people as much entitled to their poi: of view as Australians. For Friend Uncles are easy to come by—Jap; tomorrow would be happy to ado that role.

The emergence of the South Pacil Forum as a permanent body shou help to ensure that Australia nev again takes its responsibilities f( granted in this part of the world.-

Stuart Inder